So I'm not sure who else out there uses music to find inspiration, but I find certain songs so inspirational that I usually develop 'soundtracks' for my WIPs and put them on repeat while I am writing. I find this helps to jog my memory as to what emotions I want to convey in certain scenes and with certain characters. And if it's a song that's tied to a scene that's not written yet, it motivates me to continue building towards the scene, so... what are you listening to while you write? And what types of characters match up with these songs?
For Scorcher, my superhero/supervillain WIP, I'm all over the board. A few songs that really stand out in my mind:
Prodigy-Firestarter: my anti-heroine is a pyrokinetic, so this one is obvious. It's also a good 'action scene' song, as it's pretty fast-paced
Sarah Fimm-Be Like Water: Just love the angstiness of this song, so it works pretty well for my anti-heroine as well.
Coldplay-Sparks and the Scientist: These two songs just work very well for the relationship of my two main characters.
Howie Day-Sunday Morning Song: another relationship song. I just love the lyrics-"it's not that bad, we could have died." Perfect for an adventure novel love story
Tom McRae-You Only Disappear: Angst, angst, angst. This song is hauntingly sad and I have a chapter named after it.
Minnie Driver-Deeper Water: Again with the angst
For The Gifted, my contemporary fantasy series centering around a group of high school students, I have enough to fill up about four CDs, so I'm definitely going to condense it. Here are a few of my favorites:
Enigma-The Gravity of Love: this other-wordly sounding song about love perfectly fits a scene that's not planned until the second or third book. That said, it's my favorite character moment and everytime I hear the song, it encourages me to work harder to get my characters to that point.
Dirty Vegas-Days Go By (acoustic version): so pretty. the acoustic, slower version fits the lyrics very well.
Dropline-Fly Away: Perfect graduation song. Sample lyrics: "paid attention to myself, found out I was someone else, once a child but now I've grown within."
Amy Studt-Just a Little Girl: pretty good girl-power song, and as my main character is a girl who has to grow up and accept a big responsibility and becomes a very strong woman, it fits. (I have to check my computer at home to get the artist name. will edit as soon as I get it-sorry!)
And my other WIP, Roguestar, a sci-fi comic book, needs music, as it's the newest project. So who knows, maybe I'll find some good song recs here
For Scorcher, my superhero/supervillain WIP, I'm all over the board. A few songs that really stand out in my mind:
Prodigy-Firestarter: my anti-heroine is a pyrokinetic, so this one is obvious. It's also a good 'action scene' song, as it's pretty fast-paced
Sarah Fimm-Be Like Water: Just love the angstiness of this song, so it works pretty well for my anti-heroine as well.
Coldplay-Sparks and the Scientist: These two songs just work very well for the relationship of my two main characters.
Howie Day-Sunday Morning Song: another relationship song. I just love the lyrics-"it's not that bad, we could have died." Perfect for an adventure novel love story
Tom McRae-You Only Disappear: Angst, angst, angst. This song is hauntingly sad and I have a chapter named after it.
Minnie Driver-Deeper Water: Again with the angst
For The Gifted, my contemporary fantasy series centering around a group of high school students, I have enough to fill up about four CDs, so I'm definitely going to condense it. Here are a few of my favorites:
Enigma-The Gravity of Love: this other-wordly sounding song about love perfectly fits a scene that's not planned until the second or third book. That said, it's my favorite character moment and everytime I hear the song, it encourages me to work harder to get my characters to that point.
Dirty Vegas-Days Go By (acoustic version): so pretty. the acoustic, slower version fits the lyrics very well.
Dropline-Fly Away: Perfect graduation song. Sample lyrics: "paid attention to myself, found out I was someone else, once a child but now I've grown within."
Amy Studt-Just a Little Girl: pretty good girl-power song, and as my main character is a girl who has to grow up and accept a big responsibility and becomes a very strong woman, it fits. (I have to check my computer at home to get the artist name. will edit as soon as I get it-sorry!)
And my other WIP, Roguestar, a sci-fi comic book, needs music, as it's the newest project. So who knows, maybe I'll find some good song recs here
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